The present invention is an improvement in a disc drive motor connector assembly. Specifically, the improvement is achieved by using a compression contact assembly.
In general, a disc drive contains one or more discs capable of magnetically storing information. The information is read and written to specific locations on the disc or discs using magnetic transducers, commonly known as heads, that "fly" above the disc surface. Head positioning apparatus is provided in the form of an actuator arm assembly.
Typically, the discs are rotated at a relatively high speed by a brushless DC motor. In contemporary disc drives, the disc drive motor is designed to be the hub of the discs. To maintain a clean room environment surrounding the discs such that the heads and the disc surface do not become contaminated, a sealed chamber encompasses the discs, the actuator assembly and the disc drive motor.
To maintain the integrity of the clean room environment, a multitude of cabling arrangements have been developed. A recent development for providing a sealed interface for the actuator arm assembly signals is disclose in a patent application entitled "Actuator Arm Assembly Printed Circuit Cable to External Printed Circuit Board Interface Apparatus", U.S. Ser. No. 07,611,189, filed Nov. 9, 1990.
Traditionally, the signals used to drive the motor and sense the motor's position were connected via either flex cables or discrete wires soldered to the internal motor electronics, i.e., stator windings and rotor position sensing circuitry. In most instances, today's sealed, fixed shaft motors provide access to the internal electronics through a port or slot in the fixed shaft. Or if a rotating shaft motor is used, the signals are passed through the chassis beneath the motor. In either instance, the wiring becomes an integral part of the motor and must be carefully handled in testing, shipping, and disc drive assembly to avoid breaking the delicate connections within the motor. Also, during disc drive assembly, special wiring methods and apparatus must be used to carefully thread the wires through the basedeck and to keep the wiring from contacting the discs. These special methods add labor costs, and the apparatus adds material costs to the overall production cost of the disc drive.
An objective of the current connector design is to eliminate the attachment of wires or cables which are permanently attached to the internal electronics of the motor and dangle therefrom until installed in the disc drive assembly. In other words, a self contained motor without dangling cables or wires is desired.
Another objective is to provide a solderless connector assembly between the motor and its external support circuitry.
Another objective is to provide a connector assembly which simplifies disc drive motor installation into the disc drive assembly. This occurs by eliminating the soldered installation and by not having a port exiting the base of the fixed shaft in a fixed shaft motor. Without the port exiting the base of the shaft, a single fastener can be used to attached the motor to the base deck of the disc drive assembly.